Jun 20, 2003   | COMMENTS     

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — In a decision that may pave the way for same-sex partner claims, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that people in long-term relationships — married or not — can sue over loss of companionship when the loved one is injured. Lawyers say the gender-neutral ruling handed down in Santa Fe this spring left open the question of whether same-sex couples would have the same rights as other unmarried couples in such “consortium” cases. “We hold as a matter of first impression under New Mexico law that a claim for loss of consortium is not limited to married partners,” Justice Pamela Minzner wrote in the April 25 decision. There was no dissent. The ruling, which imposed no preconceptions about gender on future cases, said only that the relationship must be “committed and exclusive,” with no other intimate or spouse clouding the case. “I think this decision certainly sets the groundwork for same-sex couples to file claims for consortium,” said Nicole Schamban, president of the New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association.

Calif. lesbian seeks alimony in ‘divorce’
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Michelle Platt’s lawsuit against her former partner of eight years, gay civil rights activist Marsha Naify, seeks ongoing monetary support similar to alimony and could be precedent setting, according to Platt’s attorney, Jeffrey Erdman. Platt wants between $10,000 and $20,000 per month, reported Frontiers, a gay newsmagazine. “We are confident that Marsha will prevail in every respect,” Naify’s attorney said in a written statement. Platt argues in court documents that she deserves the ongoing payments because she gave “more time and energy to the business/investment interests and affairs of Naify, at Naify’s insistence and request, and [she] eventually discontinued working independently of her work on behalf of Ms. Naify.” The lawsuit is pending before the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Long Beach.

Kraft settles suit over same-sex harassment
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The federal government and the parent company of Nabisco Inc. settled a lawsuit that claimed a male supervisor at a Nabisco distribution center sexually harassed male employees. U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn was asked last week to approve the agreement between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Kraft Foods Inc., which owns Nabisco. The EEOC filed suit in October contending route drivers and warehouse workers at the Nabisco facility were retaliated against when they complained about a gay supervisor. Charles E. Guerrier, a lawyer for the EEOC, said the agreement resulted from private settlements of “substantial amounts.” Kraft spokesperson Lynne Galia said the allegations occurred before Kraft bought Nabisco. In a separate case, RSG Forest Products settled a same-sex harassment lawsuit by the EEOC late last month, according to a consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore. RSG agreed to pay $20,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to the man who initially complained and $45,000 to each of four other male workers. The company admitted no wrongdoing.

New Mass. judicial rules bar anti-gay bias
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ highest court updated its ethical code of conduct for judges for the first time in 30 years. The Supreme Judicial Court released the new 52-page code of ethics on June 13, and the new version, which takes effect Oct. 1. It includes new rules and accompanying commentary to help judges interpret the rules. The code’s language was also updated to remove male-only references to judges and add domestic partners to language referring to a judge’s spouse. For the first time, the SJC also banned judges from joining groups that practice “invidious discrimination” on the basis of sexual orientation or ethnicity, other than churches, the military, and any “intimate, purely private organization.” The earlier rules had only specified non-discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or national origin.

La. Senate bans public sex, keeps sodomy law
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Senate went on record June 16 against sex in public, following the lead of the state House, which passed the bill a month ago. An explicit videotape shot during the French Quarter’s Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay celebration, inspired the legislation. The video has been much circulated by a New Orleans minister who wants his city to clamp down on the festival. Public sex is already illegal, but the new bill outlaws sex for ...